Local Pools And Spas

We chose this company because they were quite a bit less expensive than many of their competitors.  First season opening and maintenance went fine, but when they showed up for the closing, they said that our cover had some holes in it from being stored outside, apparently from mice.  (We would have stored it inside if they had suggested this.)  So we had to buy a "one-season" cover that cost us approximately the same as a good multi-season cover would have cost on-line.  Unfortunately, the one-season cover didn't really work right, so when they came back to open the pool in the spring, we learned that it had leaked and that we would have to drain our pool and have it acid-washed, at considerable additional expense. After that, they kept forgetting to do important things, like reinstall the filter and check the heater, and when I didn't get prompt responses to my follow-up calls, I was forced to try to do things myself to insure that the pool would be open for the Memorial Day weekend.  Unfortunately, in taking off the filter cover, I broke the pressure gauge, and had to pay them to repair that.  (They showed up unexpectedly a short time after I broke the gauge, and if they had simply called to let me know that they would be coming, I would have let them finish their own opening job instead of trying to do it myself.)  They never did get around to getting our heater going, and I had to hire another company to take care of that. The bottom line here is the bottom line.  Hiring an apparently less expensive but also less competent and responsive company cost me more than hiring a better company with higher opening/closing charges.

I decided to try this company vs. the one I had been using for many years because their advertised price was much lower than what I had been paying. The workers arrived on the day scheduled and I happened to arrive at my home as they were leaving. They explained that the pool was too murky to clean and said they would be returning the next day. For the twelve years I had lived in the house - this was exactly the same experience. Since I have a looplock cover - the water is always too dirty the first day to clean it and the pool company that I had been using expected that. I was not concerned. When they workers did not return the next day, I went out to check the skimmer as I knew it would be full and need emptying. The water was still very very dark and so I went to the local pool supply store and purchased four cases of liquid chlorine (a normal shock for my pool is 1 and 1/2 to 2 cases). I threw in two cases in addition to what the workers had told me they put in. Interestingly enough, they hadn't left their chlorine bottles behind (which was my past experience - kind of like getting the damaged parts to a repaired vehicle - it is proof that the water had been treated.) Still I wasn't concerned. The pool was really too dirty to clean anyway and it would have been a wasted trip. Two more days passed (the first a Sunday - so again I was forgiving) but by now the skimmer had jammed with I don't know what and the water had not heated at all so it seemed the heater had not been turned on either. On Monday I called the company and asked when they were coming out to complete the opening. I also indicated that I had turned off the pump because the skimmer was clogged and the pump was getting hot (I was worried it would burn out) and the heater didn't work. The person I spoke to on the phone said they knew the heater didn't work - and claimed that was common and they would "refer me" to their heater company. This was when I started worrying - in 12 years I'd never had a problem with the heater not being started. Sometimes the other company had to repair wires that had been chewed on - but it was all part of the opening price. They also said they thought they'd be back "sometime that week" - which was problematic since the pump was no longer running and cleaning the pool. They did return and start up the pump again, spent one hour cleaning the pool and left again saying they'd have to come back once the water was less stirred up. I never heard from them again. I called several times, got the run around and finally gave up. My old company came out and tried to unclog the skimmer unsuccessfully - I ended up paying Roto Router to unclog the line. This company had not scooped out any of the debris they had dumped in the pool from off of the cover and the skimmer was completely jammed up. My old company then came out and (for free) had no trouble starting my heater - there was a single wire disconnected. I initially did not pay Local Pools for opening my pool. I tried calling and talking to them and a year later wrote a very detailed explanation to them about why I was refusing to pay. They filed on me with small claims court and I just decided going to court wasn't worth my time plus I would have had to use a personal business day from work. So I ended up paying them for "opening" my pool.